The hope is that Doncic, specifically, will lead the Lakers to a prosperous post-LeBron James era while also increasing the team’s chances of competing for a title this season.

James showed on Thursday why he and this version of the Lakers are worth continued investment.

With Doncic’s Lakers debut likely not coming until Monday, the 40-year-old James scored a season-high 42 points Thursday night, leading the Lakers to a 120-112 win over the Warriors at Crypto.com Arena.

The victory, which put the Lakers at 30-19, was their fourth straight, eighth in their last nine games and 10th in their last 12.

James became just the second 40-year-old in NBA history to score at least 40 in a game with his 3-pointer that gave the Lakers a late 115-106 lead with a little more than one minute left in the game. He added 17 rebounds and eight assists for good measure.

The other: Michael Jordan, who scored 43 points on Feb. 21, 2003, four days after turning 40.

James was a focal point of the Lakers’ early surge that led to them taking a 26-point lead late in the second.

The four-time MVP knocked down a trio of 3s — with the last one being a 34-footer from the Lakers’ midcourt logo — to give the Lakers a 45-23 lead early in the second that grew to 69-43 later in the quarter.

The Warriors closed the quarter strong, cutting their deficit to 69-49 at halftime and eventually five in the fourth after Curry’s 3 trimmed the Lakers’ lead to 109-104.

Curry (37 points on 13-of-35 shooting to go with seven rebounds and four assists) scored more than half of his point total (19) in the fourth.

But the Lakers held on with late-game free throws from James and shot-making from Austin Reaves.

Reaves finished with 23 points, making 15 of 16 free throws to go with four assists and three steals.